Ratings dropped substantially for the US Open singles finals, capping a tournament marked by sizable declines — and stiff competition.
The US Open tennis tournament averaged 700,000 viewers on the ESPN family of networks, down 45% from last year (1.28M). This year’s tournament faced unusual competition from the NBA and NHL playoffs and also lacked a number of stars, including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Saturday’s Naomi Osaka-Victoria Azarenka women’s final averaged a 1.3 rating and 2.15 million viewers during the two-hour match window, down 48% in ratings and 46% in viewership from Serena Williams-Bianca Andreescu last year (2.5, 4.00M).
The full three-hour telecast window averaged a 1.1 (-45%) and 1.86 million (-42%). Viewership was the lowest for the women’s final since 2017, the last time it did not feature Williams (Sloane Stephens-Madison Keys: 1.85M).
Sunday’s Dominic Thiem-Alexander Zverev men’s final averaged a 0.9 and 1.48 million, down 44% in ratings and 46% in viewership from Nadal-Daniil Medvedev last year (1.6, 2.75M) and down 31% and 29% respectively from 2018 (Novak Djokovic-Juan Martin del Potro: 1.3, 2.07M).
Thiem’s five-set win was narrowly the least-watched men’s final on record, slightly below the Nadal-Kevin Anderson final three years ago (1.483M to 1.476M). It may be the case that this year’s final eventually finishes ahead of ’17 in Nielsen’s final tally.
It was the first men’s final since 2014 without Federer, Nadal or Djokovic. That year, Marin Cilic’s win over Kei Nishikori averaged 2.19 million on a Monday afternoon, albeit on broadcast network CBS.
Even with the lower numbers, the match topped its NBA playoff lead-in (Clippers-Nuggets Game 6: 0.8, 1.30M). The NBA game provided a much stronger lead-in than last year, when the men’s final aired after the women’s doubles final (0.31, 475K).
Notably, the men’s final not only trailed the previous day’s women’s final, but also the women’s semifinals last Thursday night (0.95, 1.55M).
[Nielsen estimates from ESPN, ShowBuzz Daily 9.16]
